


Akechi and the Book of Friends

by Kato_Jiku



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Metaverse, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, But hopefully less angst, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Goro probably has anger issues, I can't promise anything though, Influenced by Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, and is also probably a sadist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2019-08-24 02:31:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16631174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kato_Jiku/pseuds/Kato_Jiku
Summary: For about as long as Goro has been alive (which, at the tender age of 17, honestly isn’t very long), he’s been able to see beings and creatures normal people couldn’t see.Or the Natsume Yuujinchou AU that literally no one asked for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> haha, so I literally came up with this idea during my lunch break yesterday, and the idea just wouldn’t get out of my head, so here’s a little something even though I’m still in the middle of writing other stuff right now. This first chapter is really short, but I really wanted to get the exposition out of the way before I begin the actual story.
> 
> I have absolutely no idea if anyone has thought to write this AU before, so if anyone has, I promise I’m not copying off of anyone.

For about as long as Goro has been alive (which, at the tender age of seventeen, honestly isn’t very long), he’s been able to see beings and creatures normal people couldn’t see. He’d gotten much ridicule for it when he was younger and was tossed around from foster home to foster home after his mother’s death. Many of the other children his age claimed he was lying about the strange creatures that only he could see, and the adults believed he was nothing but a spoiled brat who was only vying for attention, but that absolutely wasn’t the case.

These creatures—or ayakashi, as Goro had begun calling them—were the ones vying for _his_ attention. It was like a game for them. They knew he could see them, so they made it a game for themselves to see who could rile him up the most. Some of them even went as far as injuring the boy or even the other children around him, making them trip on what was seemingly just thin air, but, because these incidents almost always happened in close proximity to Goro, _he_ was the one who always got blamed. When the adults had finally decided they had enough of his “antics,” they shipped him off to another place, and the cycle would repeat itself again.

It wasn’t until he was fifteen that he’d finally find someplace he could comfortably call home. He’d been shipped off to an orphanage in Tokyo that time around because the previous one had had enough after an incident that landed him in the hospital, and, strangely enough, he was taken up by another foster family not too long afterwards. This one only consisted of a single mother and her twelve-year-old daughter. Goro had lived with his fair share of small families, but never before had he lived in a home with just a single parent.

And to make things stranger, even after Wakaba heard about his history of causing trouble, she insisted on taking him in. He later figures out Wakaba is a researcher of psience, an area of study where science and the supernatural meet, and that her daughter Futaba was also surprisingly well versed in this study despite her young age. They believed there are supernatural beings in this world even though they were unable to see them, and it was such a nice change of pace for Goro that the boy began opening up to them. For once in his life, there were people who actually believed him, and after two and a half years of living comfortably with this small family, Wakaba finally held the rights to adopt him. And this is where this story begins.


	2. Chapter 2

When Sojiro said he’d been convinced to take in a stray, the curly-haired young man who just walked into Leblanc wasn’t what Goro was expecting. The boy seemed to look like he was lost, and, as Goro peered up from the cup he was wiping off, he was twirling a part of his dark bangs between his fingers. Definitely a nervous habit.

“Is Sojiro Sakura here?” the raven asks as he takes tentative steps toward the counter.

Goro puts on his best customer service smile, hoping it would ease the newcomer’s nerves even for just a while. “He just stepped outside to buy some groceries. Is there something you needed from him?”

The boy lets go of his bangs and pushes up his glasses before placing his hand into his pocket. “I was told I’d be staying with him.”

“Ah, why don’t you take a seat? I’m sure he’ll be back shortly.” As the raven takes one of the seats at the bar, Goro asks, “So what’s your name?”

“Kurusu. Akira Kurusu. And you?”

“Goro Akechi. What brings you here to live with Sojiro-san?”

Akira averts his gaze to the countertop and traces the grooves of the polished wood with his index finger. “My parents think I’m a nuisance to keep around.”

Goro’s heart throbs with sympathy at Akira’s words. “If you don’t mind my prying, is there a reason why they think so?”

He notices Akira almost glaring at the countertop now, hand clenching into a fist. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Goro can’t help but relate but remains silent, opting to make a hot cup of coffee and setting it down in front of Akira when it was completed.

“But I didn’t order anything,” the boy says, looking up at Goro with stunned pools of grey.

“Don’t worry about it,” Goro deflects with a handwave. “This one’s on me.”

“…Thanks.” Akira takes the cup gently between his hands and takes a slow sip, humming as the rich flavor of the coffee hits his tongue. “It’s really good.”

“Why, thank you, Kurusu-kun,” Goro replies, letting a genuine smile pass through to his face. “It’s still a far cry from what the real master can do, but I’m happy you find it to your liking.”

The other boy hums as he sips more of the coffee but stiffens as soon as the door to the outside world opens with the soft tinkling of a bell. Sojiro walks in with a hefty bag of groceries, and Futaba trails in from behind, carrying a smaller yet still heavy bag. She startles as soon as she sees Akira and rushes behind the counter before hiding behind Goro. Akira looks on in stunned silence, cup halfway from his lips as he stares at the girl peering at him from her hiding place behind Goro.

Sojiro only sighs and rubs his neck after setting the bag on the counter for Goro to grab. “You must be the kid, then.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” Akira stands from his seat and bows. “Please take care of me.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, kid,” Sojiro replies before looking to Goro and Futaba. “I’m closing up early. Call Wakaba and tell her to come over. We’re having curry.”

Futaba claps and cheers with delight, temporarily forgetting her shyness as she taps away at her phone before calling her mother.

 _Our mother,_ Goro corrects in his mind. He’s still getting used to the fact he has a mother now. As he sets the various ingredients aside for curry and places the rest in the fridge and cupboards, he smiles tenderly to himself.

The curry is stewing by the time Wakaba arrives, and she gives everyone including Akira a hug (the boy sure looked like he needed it). The cafe is soon filled with a boisterous atmosphere as the warm curry is dished out and eaten. Akira stays mostly quiet throughout the dinner, but Goro could tell from the slight quirk of the boy’s lips that he enjoyed the little get together. He hopes that, regardless of the circumstances that led him here to this small cafe, Akira would find as much comfort in it as Goro did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s chapter two! Thank you all so much for the comments, bookmarks, kudos, etc! It really means a lot!


	3. Chapter 3

The city, as opposed to the more rural or even suburban parts of Japan, is less populated by the ayakashi that exist. They mostly liked to keep in places away from bright and crowded places and mostly stuck to dark alleyways and quiet neighborhoods, which is exactly the kind of place that Yongen-jaya is. The ayakashi in this particular neighborhood are less mischievous in demeanor and seem to almost respect the fact that Goro could see them. Some have even become frequent patrons at Leblanc whenever Goro worked there, and Sojiro—though he was more of a sceptic than a believer of the supernatural—turned a blind eye to whenever Goro randomly placed a cup (or sometimes a bottle cap) of coffee in front of an empty seat. These invisible patrons always left a few coins and even gifts behind, so the man had no reason to stop it.

When Goro asked one of them why they started frequenting Leblanc, the ayakashi told him it had been a long while since the last time they connected with a human and was merely thanking the fact that Goro was there and could see them. That conversation left a strong impression in the boy’s mind, and Goro began to see these ayakashi in a different light.

One of Goro’s non-human customers was visiting that afternoon when Akira rushes in through the door, trying to look as though he wasn’t desperately gasping for breath after a sprint but completely failing on that front if his flushed face and stilted breathing were anything to go by. He freezes at the entryway, and Goro watches with bated breath as Akira glances at the ayakashi at the booth before letting his gaze slide off of them like water on a hydrophobic surface. Like he saw the supernatural being and then decided he didn’t want to.

Akira mutters some kind of greeting to Goro and speedwalks to the back staircase, clutching his school bag a little tighter than necessary when he passed by the ayakashi relaxing with their coffee. The being takes that as their cue to leave, but not without leaving exact change behind in return for the coffee. As Goro gathers up the cup and change, Akira cautiously emerges from his hiding place on the staircase and looks around.

“Is it gone?” Akira asks, settling down in one of the barstools and still clinging to the bag on his shoulder. Goro nods as he puts the change away in the register and notices the way Akira visibly relaxes the clutch on his bag.

Akira’s peculiar behavior when it came to his bag coming in close contact with an ayakashi doesn’t escape Goro’s observant eyes, but just as Goro is about to ask about it, Sojiro returns from his weekly grocery run with Futaba. He’ll just have to ask about it later when they’re alone. The next day is Sunday and Goro’s day off; he has enough free time on his hands to visit Akira in his living space above Leblanc then.

Sunday morning comes and Goro has breakfast with his mother and sister before heading out of the house and to Leblanc where Sojiro had just opened the shop.

“You don’t work today,” the man tells him with his eyebrow raised. “Honestly, you should be sleeping in like the kid.”

Goro shakes his head at the suggestion. “I wanted to speak with him about something.”

Sojiro gestures openly to the stairs. “Be my guest. Good luck getting him to wake, though. He sleeps like the dead.”

He beams at Sojiro and heads for the stairs. “Thanks for the warning, Sojiro-san.”

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Goro catches a glimpse of unruly black hair before it vanishes beneath the blanket on the bed in the far corner of the room.

“Just five more minutes, Boss,” he hears Akira say with words deeply slurred with sleep.

Goro masks his chuckle behind a cough and says, “I’m not Sojiro-san, Kurusu-kun.”

The blanket is almost immediately thrown back, revealing Akira in his sleepwear as he sits up in the bed. From his angle, Goro can see the corner of some kind of… something poking out from under Akira’s pillow and hones in on it. It gets snatched out of view as Akira shields it protectively behind his back.

Goro watches as the boy’s eyes narrow. “What are you doing here, Akechi?”

Goro is almost surprised by the hostility in his tone. It was drastically different from the timid voice he got used to hearing in the week he spent acquainting himself with Akira. Is this who the boy truly was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for all the support y’all have given this story! See you in the next chapter~


	4. Chapter 4

Goro knows with Akira on the defensive like this, he couldn’t question the other about what he’s hiding. At least, not right away. Instead, he tries a different approach.

“I just want to talk with you, Kurusu-kun. You see them too, don’t you?”

Akira’s frame remains tense. “I do. What about it?”

“I just want to get to know you better,” Goro replies somewhat truthfully. “I’ve never known another person who could see them. Well, there was my birth mother, but she’s…” He shakes his head. “It’s difficult making friends with this ability we share, don’t you think?”

“I can agree with you on that.” Akira’s glare loses some of its intensity. “So you’re saying you want to be friends?”

Goro knows he can’t mince words here. “Yes.”

Akira has a pensive look on his face as if he’s weighing his options in his mind. It takes a few moments before he finally nods. “Okay. So what do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with family members. Who did you inherit your sight from?”

“I know it’s neither of my parents since they sent me out here instead of dealing with me.” Akira laughs a harsh tone. “It’s most likely my grandmother. My parents always talked about how I was a lot like her. That she was strange and wasn’t quite right in the head, but that only makes me think it’s because she could see them. And… there’s also something else I inherited from her.”

Akira fidgets with his hands behind his back before finally revealing what he was hiding. It was a book of some sort that looked like it was hand-bound with a leather string at the top. From the looks of it, it was old and worn and had the words “Book of Friends” written in neat kanji on the cover.

“The Book of Friends?” Goro reads the words aloud, a question in his voice. “Just what is this, exactly?”

“Dunno.” Goro’s face falls flat at the answer before Akira elaborates. “It’s got these weird characters written on each page, but I can’t make out what any of it says. What I do know is those… _things_ want it, and something tells me I shouldn’t let go of it no matter what.”

After taking a moment to let those words sink in, Goro slowly shakes his head with a stern look on his face. “That sounds incredibly dangerous. And you keep it with you all the time?” He pauses just as a thought enters his brain. “Does this have anything to do with how breathless you were when you walked in yesterday?”

Another pause. “Maybe.”

“ _Are you an idiot?_ ”

Akira flinches at his raised tone but recovers quickly as he shrugs. “Most likely.”

Goro resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and stalks off toward the stairs instead. “I need some coffee.”

“And I need breakfast,” Akira says from behind him as Goro hears the bed creaking.

Goro merely rolls his eyes, but allows himself to be followed downstairs where Sojiro already has a steaming plate of curry for Akira and cup of black coffee for Goro set on top of the bar. Goro blinks at the coffee but smiles gratefully at Sojiro nonetheless. The man knows him too well. As Goro sips daintily at his cup, he notices how Akira scarfs down his curry like a caged animal that’s been given its first meal in several days. He grimaces at the thought and turns away, focusing on the warmth of his cup.

It’s only when his coffee cup is nearly empty does Goro trust himself to speak again without losing his composure with Akira. “You’re walking home with me from now on, and we’re taking absolutely no detours. Do you understand?”

Akira gives a noncommittal hum and makes a cheeky rebuttal. “We’ll see how long that lasts.”

Sojiro pries the coffee cup from Goro’s fingers when they squeeze too hard on the delicate porcelain in his flaring anger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...So this chapter has been delayed for too long, and I apologize for that and the fact that I know the contents of this one are only mediocre at best. I didn't want to dwell more on this chapter and delay it even further, so here it is ^^;
> 
> The reason for this delay is because I found it really difficult to write this chapter for some reason, and I found myself working on my other writing projects instead. I'm really sorry for the delay!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P L E A S E R E A D  
> I'm making this official for this fic from now on: NO COMMENT, NO CHAPTER. I already lost a lot of my motivation to write more of this, and I'm focused on getting my other fic done anyway. I'm not working on the next chapter until I see that enough people actually want to see more, and the only way to let me know that y'all do is when you comment. Kudos is great and all, but they're really not that motivating. Trust me.

The first few days after that particular Sunday went by without incident. Goro, Futaba, and Akira would all take the train to Leblanc after school, and Goro would spend his part-time hours serving and making coffee while Akira hid away in the attic upstairs, and Futaba would hang around in the booth with her laptop situated beneath her skilled fingertips.

That Thursday certainly started without incident, and everything was normal right up until the last bell made itself heard throughout the school. Then Futaba texts Goro about being on library duty and not being able to join on the walk to Leblanc, and everything beyond that point went straight to chaos.

It’s as if they _knew_. Without Futaba as the sole person without the Sight to be there and fill up the silence with her ongoing babbling (She’s just started to warm up to Akira to the point where she can look him in the face. Goro is particularly proud of his sister for that.) and thoroughly distract the older boys from drawing their eyes toward things which normally wouldn’t be seen… It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Akira nearly faceplants when a crawling Ayakashi with long, dark hair covering their face (very reminiscent of the girl from _The Ring_ ) grabs at his ankle and begins creepily whispering, “Give me the Book. Hand it over, hand it over, hand it o-v-e-r…” like a mantra.

Goro catches the boy’s arm and yanks him out of the apparition’s grip before he begins to run. Akira makes a strangled noise in his throat like he lost his shoe or something. He probably _did_ lose his shoe in that Sadako-lookalike’s grip, but Goro doesn’t have the time to check. In the amount of time the two spent running down the block like a pair of chickens with their heads chopped off, a swarm of negative energy and spirits have gathered behind the two boys, chasing them. Goro as never seen so many at once in all of his stay in Tokyo, and it absolutely frightens him.

He pushes himself to keep running in the vague direction of Yongen-Jaya, hand clenching tightly to Akira’s wrist and spurring him onward when Goro feels the other boy slow down with his noticeably uneven footfalls. _Ah, so he_ did _lose a shoe…_ Goro would have to check on Akira’s foot for any damage later, but right now, they had to _run_.

They were about three blocks away from Yongen when Goro turns a corner and runs smack into a looming figure which knocks the both of them down. The body of the thing was mostly just a head with a menacing face, and it reaches out for the boys just as the Ayakashi behind them approach them with their horrible, jeering voices. Goro can’t believe they had been herded. Like sheep or cattle. The thought makes his blood boil as he grits his teeth. The swarm of Ayakashi is upon them now, and Goro shuts his eyes, bracing himself for the violence that would inevitably come.

Except it doesn’t.

He sees the bright light even through his eyelids, and he hears the horrible sounds of the Ayakashi screeching before they scurry away from the bright light that repelled them. His hand is then given a squeeze— _when had Akira’s wrist turned into his hand?_ —after a few moments, and Goro finally manages to open his eyes. There’s a small cat sitting in front of them, its keen, blue eyes piercing through Goro’s soul as it stares at them. It’s black in color save for its muzzle, paws, and the tip of its tail, and the creature is pinning them down with the most judging stare he’d ever seen directed from a cat. The cat is one Goro recognizes from his morning strolls around Yongen-Jaya, and there’s no doubt it’s another Ayakashi in disguise. Especially if it was what brought on that flashing bright light earlier.

“You saved us, didn’t you?” Akira cautiously approaches the cat, letting go of Goro’s hand. “I want to thank you. If it weren’t for you, we would’ve been done for.”

The cat stays silent, narrowing its gaze at Akira before it huffs and slinks around a corner, disappearing from view. A few silent moments later, the boys are standing and walking the rest of the way to Leblanc.

The bell above the door announces their arrival and Sojiro casts them a worried-looking glance. Goro doesn’t blame him as he and Akira are probably both disheveled from their run, and Akira is now sporting a limp from running with a socked foot. A socked foot that Goro really needs to check on now.

“Go upstairs and take off that bloody sock,” Goro commands, pointing up to the ceiling. “I’m getting the first-aid kit and patching up that foot of yours.”

Akira opens his mouth to protest, but Goro shoots him a glare which promptly makes him shut it and limp his way over to the stairs. “Right. Going upstairs.”

Goro makes his way over to retrieve the first-aid kit from behind the counter, but Sojiro is already holding it out to him over the bar. There’s a silent question in the older man’s eyes, but Goro pointedly shakes his head. He doesn’t want to burden Sojiro with his Ayakashi problems. There’s no doubt Sojiro would listen to him, but the older man is still new to the idea that these Ayakashi are real.

He arrives to the sight of Akira picking at the loose skin clinging to his foot, and Goro grimaces before swatting his hands away. “Stop that. You’re going to make it worse.”

“Alright, _mom_.” The mocking tone of Akira’s voice makes him glare at the younger boy with enough hostility to kill a man. “…Shutting up.”

Goro forcibly opens the first-aid kit in response and collects a cotton swab before dousing the thing in rubbing alcohol. He takes no time in dabbing at Akira’s wounds and revels in the hissing sounds the younger boy makes with every new wound that Goro swabs over.

“I swear, you’re some kind of sadist,” Akira says once his foot is dressed and bandaged.

“If I’m a sadist, then you’re a masochist,” Goro shoots back. “You know this could’ve been avoided if you threw that book away.”

“That wouldn’t have solved anything. What if that book fell into the wrong hands or something?” Goro remains silent, and Akira sighs, wiggling his toes beneath the bandages. “Thanks for bandaging my foot. You were unnecessarily violent with it, though.”

Goro clenches his fist, resisting the urge to punch the boy in front of him. No matter how satisfying it’d be, he shouldn’t punch that smirk from the other boy’s face.

In that moment, something hits the window to the attic with a resounding thud, and Goro shares shocked glances with Akira before approaching the window. When he opens it and looks out, he spots a black object in the vague shape of a loafer lying on the ground below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been too long??? All I can do is apologize for making you guys wait!! I’ve been preoccupied with another fic I’m working on, and hadn’t really had the motivation to continue this story until now ; w;
> 
> P L E A S E R E A D  
> I'm making this official for this fic from now on: NO COMMENT, NO CHAPTER. I already lost a lot of my motivation to write more of this, and I'm focused on getting my other fic done anyway. I'm not working on the next chapter until I see that enough people actually want to see more, and the only way to let me know that y'all do is when you comment. Kudos is great and all, but they're really not that motivating. Trust me.

**Author's Note:**

> I own a [twitter](https://twitter.com/katojiku628). Feel free to follow me and yell at me about fandoms and stuff. (I don't bite. I promise.)


End file.
